You're being a little bit nitpick-ish tbh. Why complain about the "na" in surnames? It's her choice on what to name her characters, so.And they really don't. They look fairly original in design, with some homages to some existing characters.She isn't exactly wasting potential man.

Sorry to butt into this convo, but having "na" in a surname (at least in Japan) means that word is an adjective and shouldn't be used as a surname! (For reference, I'm assuming the name here is 手紙不思議な which is just A Strange Letter). Having that hiragana "な" in the surname is a taboo and shouldn't be used too.

Yes she can do whatever she wants to name her characters, but is it really that difficult to understand basic Japanese naming conversions?

As for the design itself, I don't exactly have qualms with it, other than its basically Haiji's pose, and the fact that the Eye of Senri is on the character when they are in no way affiliated with the Senri. At least Tsurubami (of course), Tsubakra and in ways, Suzumi had a reasoning to have that eye motif yet this character is just a random scholar whom should not have the motif. Maybe change it to a small book or something! That'd be cute. The design is also basically a mish-mash of character designs as well and while homages aren't bad, there are times where its overdone, y'know.

I don't know if she's "not wasting potential", by the by. I wish she'd put a small personality bio, or added more personal info about the character like going in depth into her characters, but that's just me. Like saying where exactly in Mugenri they are. Or go deep about their abilities instead of just being vague.

Sorry for going on a little long, but it's something I've always thought of Lenk's characters and I do want to see them improve much much more, but at this point in time, I see no reason to care when the design is really the only interesting thing about them.

Fascinating, I didn't know that. Is it just that character (な) though? What about names that have a "na" in them like Nagisa for example?

The pose doesn't look much like Haiji's to be honest, and the only other homage I see that bothers me a little is the top which looks like Tsubakura's. Sure there's the eye, but it seems like it's ambiguous as to whether Lenk added it on there because they might have a relation to Senri or it's just there cuz Len'en. Without a explanation we'll never know obviously.

The difference is that, in "Nagisa" is that the "な" is at the beginning instead of the end. For forenames "な" ending names are... far and few, I suppose? But if they're adjectives, or in general words ("美しな", ”不思議な"、”純粋な” for "な" ending adjectives, for example.) I can get a little bit more technical with Japanese naming but I don't exactly want to type out a whole 'nother paragraph that'll bore people.

Oh, if so, did you see the old version of the artwork? Lenk edited it a few days ago, now the difference is clear (which I'm thankful for). And if that's the case (their connection to Senri), why? When? How? Why does Tsurubami, or at least the Senri family trust them? How and when did they come to know each-other? How does this add to their character and how does it fit in? I wouldn't be asking so much if it were... for example, a Touhou character, where connections between many characters are plentiful in that game, other than a few. But Len'en is a very story-driven series and they should, at least, stand on their own as an interesting character with a semi-fleshed backstory that could fit well into the series. Especially if they know such an important character in the series.

Sure, making OCs for the heck of it is fun, but it really makes me sad that these OCs are just one-off things and then brushed away to be forgotten, as seen with many of Lenk's Nansei characters from time and time again, maybe popping up every-once-in-a-while. It isn't bad to have so many characters (heck, Touhou has and that's one thing I'm kind-of miffed at), even Touhou has a basic personality, a brief backstory if there is one, goals in that game and so on in their characters. It isn't just "name, gender, occupation, species, ability, title", and while something like ZUN's bio or JynX bio isn't needed just even a small paragraph about it would be nice. Really!

There's so much potential here but either she doesn't want to pursue it, or doesn't know how, so hence why I typed that up. I love reading about people's characters and its sad that they have their growth as a character stunted.

There was an old version of this? It looks unchanged from when she last uploaded it (which was around the same time she posted the theme).

Hm, I never thought about it but you got a point there. I think that Touhou is just as story-driven as well, given its amount of lore.

And yeah, that's kinda the thing I want to see Lenk do as well. I love reading bios about ocs as well; when I made some ocs myself I couldn't help but write up a bio because I wanted to imagine how they'd act in the world. That and it's good practice for writing in general.

I can only assume that Lenk doesn't want to share her characters' bios maybe because writing it in english (in particular) isn't her strong point, or as you said, she doesn't know how to go about it (which is understandable as it can get a bit intimidating but ya gotta try)I'd like to see her try to make a little fan story with her Len'en ocs for example, she's got this one, Yozora, Kiba and Kokoro that could be something altogether if she tried.

Yeah, she updated the picture just a while back, a day or so after if I had to estimate. She changed up the legs and made the fingers thinner as far as I can tell, but there is still a clear difference.

The difference there, I'd suppose, if it even is a difference, is that Len'en games' stories are there in the games. The surface of it is deep and rich in lore and you can get it from just playing the games + the text files in that game. While Touhou is relatively story-driven as well, some of its games loosely tied together, to get the full picture of what Gensokyo is like, of what their residents are like, you also have to go ahead and perhaps brush up on the manga, read deeper than what's on the surface for Len'en. Its there, don't get me wrong! But to get the full picture for some characters, you will have to step away from the games and look somewhere else. (And I love them both for it).

I do know that Lenk has tried before with a dev team behind her back (at least for Nansei), and personally that's when Nansei really shined for me. The characters were interesting, they had backstories, clear goals, something they were aiming for at the end of the game and the plot was enticing and rich. And she doesn't have to reach that far to that extent again, heck, even with her not-so-good English I'd love to see her attempts at creating a character and a story of her own thats threaded together and makes sense instead of bits and pieces!

And yeah, even with her Len'en OCs, that would be cute to see. I just want to see her try, y'know? At least give an effort into it!

About Len'en oc, Lenk says herself she isn't really serious about creating those, like making them out of fun for pure experiment. She never planned a story or something aside from it.

Talking about Nansei ( or Midnight ) overall, she does make simpler things without complex stories. She has story to tell, but lack of english writing doesn't allow her to do it easily. Though, in last album she did small pieces of information with her native language, so it is at least something. Of course it is quite interesting to read a more complex story with hidden hints and else, like how it was in the team in the past. The time proved it is easier for her to do that alone.

Mostly, you can only enjoy the music or look character designs. That's simple, but that's it, and what Lenk always pursued, kinda.